After a five-game road swing through Big 12 Conference play, the No. 9 Baylor softball team returns home for a key, Big 12 Conference series against OklahomaState this weekend. The two-game series opens with a single game on Saturday, April 14, at 2:00 p.m. followed by the series finale on Sunday, April 15, at 1:00 p.m.

The Lady Bears enter the series as one of the hottest teams in the country as Baylor (37-9, 7-0) has won seven straight and currently lead the Big 12 Conference with a perfect 7-0 record. Baylor is coming off a road-swing where it won all five contests, including wins at Texas A&M and at Texas.

Ashley Monceaux continues to lead the Baylor attack, leading the team with a .405 batting average, 12 home runs and 47 RBI. Third baseman Brette Reagan has shined in conference play, leading the team with a .500 average in Big 12 play.

Lisa Ferguson continues to shine for the Lady Bears in the circle as the senior right-hander is coming off a four-hit shutout of Texas. Ferguson currently leads the team with a 17-4 record and 1.80 ERA in 139.2 innings of work.

OklahomaState (24-22, 2-5) enters the series in eighth-place in the Big 12 Conference standings after dropping a pair of games against Missouri last weekend. The Cowgirls lead the all-time series with Baylor, 22-12; however, the Lady Bears have won three straight.

For tickets to the series, contact the Baylor Ticket Office at 254-710-1000 or 1-800-BAYLOR-U.

QUICK NOTES

 Baylor is No. 13 in the latest USA Today/NFCA Top 25 and No. 9 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25.

 Baylor's appearance in both polls marks the 52nd consecutive week the Lady Bears have appeared in the NFCA Top 25 and the 51st consecutive week the team has appeared in the USA Softball Top 25.

 Baylor is 174-10 over the past six seasons when scoring at least four runs.

 Baylor is 144-18 over the past five seasons when collecting at least eight hits.

 Baylor is 207-20 over the past five seasons when out-hitting its opponent.

 Baylor is 94-19 over the past four seasons at Getterman Stadium, including a 23-1 mark at home this season.

 For the first time in school history, Baylor swept the national player of the week honors after taking two-of-three from No. 2 Arizona. Alex Colyer was named USA Softball National Player of the Week while Lisa Ferguson was named Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week. Both earned Big 12 Conference player of the week honors as well.

 Ashley Monceaux was selected as one of the top 25 finalists for USA Softball National Player of the Year. Baylor's ChelsiLake and Brette Reagan were selected to the pre-season watch list.

 With Brette Reagan winning Big 12 Conference Co-Player of the Week honors this week, Baylor has had five players earn Big 12 Conference Pitcher or Player of the Week honors this season, the most in school history.

 For the first time in history, live, streaming audio will be available for every Baylor softball game. Sign-up for audio is free and fans can listen to every Baylor softball game by visiting www.baylorbears.com.

LISA FERGUSON NEARS BAYLOR CAREER WIN MARK

With a complete-game shutout victory over No. 11 Texas, Baylor senior Lisa Ferguson moved one-win closer to the Baylor career win mark as the right-hander now owns a career record of 73-33 in three-plus seasons.

Ferguson, who currently ranks third on the Baylor career list, is two wins shy of tying Stacey Allison (1996-99) for the most career wins in school history with 75.

The senior has been a force in the circle this year, posting a 17-4 record and 1.80 ERA on the year. In all but four innings this season, the right-hander has been in complete control. In games (25-of-29 appearances) in which she did not allow an inning of four or more runs, she has posted a 17-1 record and 0.79 ERA.

With a home run at the Bank of Hawai'i Invitational, ChelsiLake moved into first place, surpassing former Baylor star Kelly Osburn (2003-06),in the Baylor career home run category. Lake has now hit 41 career home runs as the senior already holds the Baylor single-season home run mark with 18 round-trippers in 2006.

The career milestone is just one of a number of Baylor marks Lake will likely pass during the 2007 campaign as the senior already holds the Lady Bears career record with 171 RBI. In addition, Lake is just nine total bases shy of surpassing Osburn's career total bases mark of 395 and has tied Osburn's career mark with 43 doubles as well as Stephanie Pomes' career mark of nine sacrifice flies.

Over the past few years, the Baylor offense has had tremendous success at the plate and this year has been no different. So far this season, Baylor has posted a .322 batting average on the year and currently ranks second in the league in the category. In addition, the Lady Bears have hit 42 home runs on the season and have posted an impressive .480 slugging percentage.

Leading the way for Baylor has been senior Ashley Monceaux. Monceaux leads the Lady Bears with a .405 batting average, 12 home runs and 47 RBI. The senior first baseman has posted an almost unbelievable .779 slugging percentage and 101 total bases as she ranks among the top ten in the conference in eight different categories.

Off to one of the best starts in school history, Baylor softball players have seen their fair share of recognition throughout the season as a number of players have won individual honors so far this year.

The lengthy list is highlighted by senior Ashley Monceaux, who was recently named one of 25 finalist for the USA Softball National Player of the Year award.

Earlier this year, for the first time in school history, Baylor swept the national player of the week honors as Alex Colyer captured the USA Softball National Player of the Week award and senior Lisa Ferguson was named NFCA National Player of the Week following the Lady Bears series victory over then-No. 2 Arizona.

Finally, with Brette Reagan capturing Big 12 Conference Co-Player of the Week honors this season, five Baylor players have been named Big 12 Conference Pitcher of Player of the Week, the most in school history.

Ferguson has picked up a pair of Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honors this year as Colyer and Monceaux have earned player of the week honors for the Lady Bears this season. The previous high for most player of the week honors was set in 2004, when Baylor picked up four Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week awards.

A pair of players were recognized nationally prior to the start of the season as well as Chelsi Lake and Brette Reagan were named to the USA Softball National Player of the Year pre-season watch list as Lake also earned first-team Preseason ESPN.com All-America honors.

GETTERMAN STADIUM KIND TO LADY BEARS

Since the stadium opened, Getterman Stadium has been kind to the Lady Bears as Baylor owns a 164-53 mark all-time at the stadium since it opened in 1999. So far this season, Baylor is an impressive 23-1 at home as last year Baylor went 21-8 in the friendly confines of Getterman Stadium. Since the stadium opened, no Lady Bears team has lost more than 10 games at home in a single season.

Baylor's best mark at home came during the 2004 campaign when the Lady Bears enjoyed a 26-4 record at home, including a 24-2 mark during the regular season.

In the stadium's six years of existence, attendance has steadily risen as Baylor set a pair of attendance records last season. Last season, Baylor set a single-game attendance record when 1,455 fans attended the BU-Texas game to close out the home portion of the schedule.

BAYLOR SOFTBALL IN THE NATIONAL POLLS

The Baylor softball team is currently ranked No. 9 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll. In addition, Baylor earned a No. 13 ranking in the latest USA Today/NFCA Top 25.

Baylor is one of four Big 12 Conference school ranked in both polls as Texas A&M (No. 5, No. 5), Oklahoma (No. 2, No. 3) and Texas (No. 13, No. 11) join the Lady Bears in the polls.

Tennessee, after opening the year No. 2 in the national polls, has moved to No. 1 in the rankings in both polls.

Baylor's appearance in both polls marks the 51st consecutive week the Lady Bears have appeared in the NFCA Top 25 and the 51st consecutive week the team has appeared in the USA Softball Top 25. The last time Baylor failed to appear in either poll was March 16, 2004. Within the Big 12 Conference, only Texas A&M and Oklahoma have currently appeared in the national polls for more consecutive weeks.

BAYLOR LADY BEARS IN THE CAREER CHARTS

Several Lady Bears are aiming to continue making their way up the career charts in 2007. Below is a list of Lady Bears who currently rank in the top ten in one of the career categories: